Rodgers on Favre: 'Let's heal up things and let's move forward'

Feb. 6, 2013

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Gannett Wisconsin Media

Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers on stage at the NFL Honors show in New Orleans on Saturday night. / AP

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Aaron Rodgers pondered the offer for a moment, but in the end the decision was an easy one.

When asked whether he’d be interested in taking part of an on-stage presentation with Brett Favre at the NFL Honors ceremony last Saturday in New Orleans, the Green Bay Packers’ MVP quarterback thought it over before coming to the conclusion it was a good idea for all parties involved.

Five years after Favre’s messy departure from the Packers, the time had come to bury the hatchet between the three-time MVP and the organization that traded him in 2008 in favor of Rodgers, who had been thrust into the middle of the feud by association.

During his weekly radio show on ESPN Milwaukee on Tuesday, Rodgers confirmed his on-stage skit with Favre on Saturday night was scripted and planned with a few ad-libbed lines in between, including an awkward semi-hug Rodgers that was all in good fun.

Ultimately, Rodgers hoped the reunion of the MVP quarterbacks helped bring some peace to what's been a tenuous relationship over the past five years.

“I think it's important to realize that it is time to probably time to move forward,” Rodgers said. “As the face of the franchise, I felt like it was important that I took a leadership role in that. Not that one was needed now, but I thought it was good timing to just let the fans know, let Brett know, let's move forward. Let's heal things up and let's move forward.”

Rodgers said the idea to join Favre in presenting the NFL comeback player of the year award was brought to him a week before the ceremony with the Packers fully aware of his participation in the event.

It would have been difficult to fathom such a reunion five years ago when Favre returned from retirement and tried to take the Packers’ starting job back from Rodgers before general manager Ted Thompson decided to trade him to the New York Jets.

Favre retired again after the 2008 season before making another return, this time with NFC North Division rival Minnesota en route to beating Rodgers and the Packers twice in 2009.

Even after his retirement following the 2010 season, Favre's appraisals of Rodgers often were conflicting, occasionally laced with some backhanded criticism.

Meanwhile, Rodgers has kept his comments to a minimum on the subject, but has offered that he no longer had a relationship with Favre despite being relatively close during their three years together in Green Bay.

Leading up to last Saturday's event, however, Rodgers spoke with Favre on the phone and enjoyed their time together backstage talking, taking photos and sharing a few laughs.

“Brett is two years removed from the game,” Rodgers said. “He's going to be obviously in the Packers Hall of Fame. He'll get his number retired, and he'll be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the next few years. It's important, I think, to make sure that he's recognized for all the accomplishments that he's achieved in our organization especially. He's still very dear to many of our fans for the things that he's done for the Packers on the field. You can never take that away.”

When asked about his relationship with Rodgers during his appearance on the NFL Network’s Super Bowl pre-game show, Favre credited Rodgers for his successes while adding he held “no ill feelings” toward how things played out in 2008.

When asked the same question by his show’s host, Jason Wilde, Rodgers shied away from giving the same line, but said it was important to him for both sides to find reconciliation.

“I’m going to pull a Mark McGwire line and say I’m not here to talk about the past. I feel like it’s important to move forward,” Rodgers said with a laugh. “As I move forward and hopefully we can lock something up in the next couple years, and keep me in Green Bay for my career, but I think about how I want to be remembered and this is one thing I really want to move forward with and embrace as I’m very secure with my spot on the team and my place.”